We believe in the power of women to drive social change
The Women’s Catalytic Fund is a giving circle that puts resources into the hands of people with bold visions working to end gender-based inequity and fundamentally change the systems that perpetuate it.
The Women’s Catalytic Fund administers two rounds of grants per year. Typically, these are one-time $15,000 grants to CA-based nonprofits with budgets under $1million.
Our current RFP is open until February 12th. We invite you to learn more about the work of the Women’s Catalytic Fund and review our guidelines and information on how to apply.
If you have any questions or would like to be added to our mailing list, please email WCFgrantinformation@gmail.com.
Interested in participating?
Donate
If you share our vision, we invite you to donate to the fund. The WCF employs a thoughtful and rigorous process to select innovative and impactful frontline initiatives.The giving circle has been active since 1999 and granted more than $3.7 million to nonprofit organizations in the Bay Area and California. See a list of recent grantees below.
Become a member
Sound exciting? Join Us! We welcome new members. Learn more below.
The Women’s Catalytic Fund is a highly engaged giving circle that is currently welcoming new members! We limit our membership to 15 individuals to enable a consensus-based decision making process and allow for meaningful group discussions.
Our members commit to giving a minimum annual donation of $5,000. All members evaluate proposals, participate in selecting grantees and serve on committees. We meet monthly, alternating between daytime and evening sessions, and offer two grant giving cycles per year.
Email WCFgrantinformation@gmail.com to learn more about or express your interest in becoming a member.
Women’s Catalytic Fund Grantees:
Spring 2019 – Spring 2024
Spring 2024
- Ready to Launch: Ready to Launch expands access to careers in government and politics and centers voices that have historically been excluded. The organization expands opportunities for self-identifying women in Los Angeles County to learn about staff careers in politics and government through public events and an innovative fellowship program. Ready to Launch provides the training, mentorship, stipends, and support that their fellows need to succeed.
- Bridge Live Arts: Bridge Live Arts creates and supports equity-driven live art that centers artists as agents of change. The organization presents performance, embodied practice, and public dialogues that embrace social justice. They draw from the wisdom of their bodies and dance lineages to support movements for greater equity. They find joy in deepening inclusivity in the organization, experiment with different permutations of leadership, and employ financial transparency to fuel and grow artist power.
- Pelvic Sanctuary: Pelvic Sanctuary is committed to revolutionizing pelvic health education by providing accessible, inclusive, and culturally competent resources. In a society where discussions around pelvic health are often taboo and exclusive, the organization strives to broaden the conversation and make it accessible to all. Their mission encompasses addressing the unique challenges faced by marginalized and stigmatized communities, including those undergoing gender-affirming medical procedures, confronting healthcare disparities, and lacking access to quality healthcare and reproductive freedoms. Pelvic Sanctuary’s efforts promote resilience, dignity, and bodily autonomy, fostering a future where everyone prioritizes pelvic health, regardless of gender, sexual-orientation or socioeconomic status. Pelvic Sanctuary empowers individuals to take control of their pelvic health and well-being.
Fall 2023
- Black Earth Farms: The group is an emerging Black gender-marginalized, agroecological collective comprising skilled Pan-African and Pan-Indigenous farmers, spiritual leaders, builders, artists, cultural workers, and educators. They embrace and transmit ancestral agricultural practices, while training a new wave of farmers and advocates to build more liberated and balanced food systems. They will be launching a community informed research and policy initiative to secure land-based reparations for Black people from the newly created Alameda County Reparations Committee. The $15,000 grant will be used for convenings to educate and train gender marginalized communities on farming and anti-oppression in collective, so they can advocate for food justice, housing and liberation agricology.
- Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative: Muslim ARC is a leading human rights education organization focused on building capacity within Muslim and allied communities for racial justice. They work to create anti-racism curriculum and resources, connect multi racial and multi-faith networks through storytelling and media, and cultivate racial justice through leadership and community development programs. The $15,000 grant will be used to support a partnership between the Muslim, ARC and Heart Women and Girls to develop an intersectional curriculum addressing gender based violence, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and anti-Black racism. The funding will support planning sessions and a pilot workshop in Southern California to prepare a cohort of American Muslim women leaders with a power building curriculum that includes shared analysis, strategies for social change, and a narrative shift campaign.
- Dream Youth Clinic: The clinic is an Oakland based organization providing no cost medical services, youth support groups, and youth leadership opportunities to the most vulnerable youth of the Bay Area: Black girls, Black youth, youth of color, and gender expansive youth. The $15,000 grant will be used for the creation of a citywide BIPOC Femme Youth Council to address the ongoing violence in Oakland, and to make direct policy and practice recommendations to elected officials on youth designed ways to stop the violence against Black and Brown girls. The grant will be used to pay stipends to the girls and women who will be part of the year long leadership development of the femme centered youth council.
Spring 2023
Fall 2022
Spring 2022
Fall 2021
- Recognize Violence, Change Culture (RVCC)
- Orange County Justice Fund
- CHAN-BOF for Peace Collaborative
Spring 2021
- Native Sister’s Circle
- Kitchen Table Advisors
- Legal Link
- Asian Pacific Self-Development and Residential Association (APSARA)
Fall 2020
Due to the challenging issues of 2020, including the COVID-19 pandemic and mounting pressure for racial, social and environmental justice, the Women’s Catalytic Fund used the Fall 2020 grant cycle to provide one-time supplemental grants of $10,000 to ten of our prior grantees.
Spring 2020
Fall 2019
- California Coalition for Women Prisoners: #MeToo Behind Bars Documentation Project
- The Radical Monarchs: Radical Alumni Program
- Safe Return Project: Re-investing in Formerly Incarcerated Women & Girls
- ACT for Women and Girls: Truth to Power ACTion Team
Spring 2019
- Contra Costa Family Justice Alliance
- California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
- Esq. Apprentice
- Mamacitas Cafe
Gallery: WCF Grantees
